Tile floor



July 5, 1932. j BRlED 1,$65,825

TILE FLOOR Filed July 19 1928 2 QW VQ) 5 INVENTOR.

Patented July 5, 1932 PATENT OFFICE J'ULIEN A. BRIED, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA TILE FLOOR Application filed July 19,

This invention relates principally to tile floors composed of rigid tiles flexibly laid, of the character disclosed inmy prior Patent Number 1,306,246, and has for its objects improvements thereon, also any floor or pavement laid with blocks or slabs in the manner to be described and claimed.

In the above mentioned patent I show a tile floor in which each tile is of flat triangular form supported at its underside at "29 the bottoms of the seams are shown caulked with a piece of string orthe like, andabove the caulking material was run a smallquantity of melted pitch or tar.

In trying out floors laid as above, many difficulties presented themselves. The beveled or caulking seam edge tiles were expensive to manufacure, the tiles could not al- Ways be held in abutting relation and the caulking material would be forced into the space underneath the tile to thereby lift it and destroy its three point support. Also the pitch or asphaltum was extremely difiicult to run to just the right height in the seams and'was very diflicult to clean off overrun. Besides, no pitch or other similar meltable compound entirely suitable to stand the hottest weather or hot places in rooms near radiators could be found, and there was always the danger of the seams becoming sticky, especially if the floors were waxed, or cleaned with a little kerosene or other solvent.

I have discovered how to overcome all of the above and other difficulties and make the three-cornered selfaligning tile floor practicable, easy to make, easy to lay, make its seams permanent, and for a given thickness of tile increase its load carrying capacity very greatly and also make it much less liable to break from sudden shocks.

1928. Serial No. 293,834,

In the drawing accompanying this application Flg. l is a plan view, of a portion of myimproved tile floor as laid with threecornered tiles. Fig. 2 is a substantially full size sectional View of Fig. 1 as seen from the lin'e 22 thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 are plan and end views of a spacer used to separate the tiles, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of another form of spacer.

At the time of taking out my former patent I felt that a clear space would have to be maintained under each tile in order to preserve its self aligning features, hence the tightly abutting lower edges and caulking of the lower part of the seams to prevent any of the pitch or other flexible cement from running through and getting under the tiles.

' However I have now discovered thatif the caulking seams are dispensed with and a flexible cement such as pitch, tar, asphaltum,

' changes orsettling, or vibration of the supporting floor, yet the material being uite firm under the body of the tile will contri ute many times to the load carrying capacity of the tile above, as well as enable it to stand a much greater shock without fracture.

The material which I have found best for the purpose is asphaltum-pitch or coal tar pitch of relatively high melting point and preferably filled with earthy or fibrous matter suchv as ground asbestos, volcanic ash, diatomaceous earth, etc. which greatly reduce the tendency of the pitches to fracture upon shock when cold, or to creep in hot weather, and also increase their load carrying ability,

though other flexible cements may be used.

With diatomaceous earth as a filler have used up to several times the volume of the pitch with satisfactory results,'the limit in quantity of filling material being the point where it becomes too clifiioult to apply under the tiles or in the seams, though it is easier to apply a somewhat stiffer mixture under the tiles.

The flexible cement is not filled to the top of the seams, but preferably only about half way up, and above this the seams are filled with a substantially rigid cement such as magnesite flooring cement. The magnesite flooring cement composition will adhere to the tiles and also to the pitch cement below, and it forms a thermal insulator for the pitch so that it is not exposed to any direct rays of the sun, and it also serves to confine the pitch cement so that it cannot flow or creep even if warm, or if the floor is not level.

Just what the relation between the two cements is, it is hard to say, but the pitch, especially coal tar pitch, will penetrate quite deeply into the magnesite layer if hot, indeed considerable liquid tar may be mixed directly with magnesite cement after the magnesium oxide material has been mixed with the aqueous solution of magnesium chlo ride, and will not stop it from setting. Hence the cements are not antagonistic.

I have also used Portland cement as a seam filler above the pitch seam or lower layer of pitch, but I prefer the magnesite flooring cement as it is not entirely rigid; depending on the amount of fiber ground into it; and its slight flexibility in each joint permits considerable vibration to a floor as a whole without cracking of the seams. In fact test floors placed where they would be stamped upon for months have not shown any cracking of the magnesit-e seams above the pitch, though should any cracks form in the seams the pitch below would bleed into and heal them in a short time.

For outdoor work I preferably melt a layer of parafiine or floor wax into the magnesite seams after they are well set.

In the drawing the tripodal flat tiles are designated 1, their legs 2, standing upon a wooden or any suitable foundation or base floor 3, pitch scams 4, pitch underneath support 5, magnesite upper or insulating seams 6.

In Fig. 1 border tiles 1 of oblong shape are also shown, and these have a leg under each end only as shown at 2, it being understood that a tile resting on three points or less is self aligning, tho as worked out the present invention has value in some phases with tiles which have any number of supporting points underneath.

The tiles preferably have vertical edges as shown and are spaced from one another by means of some type of spacer which will not stop the flow of the melted pitch being applied. A good spacer is a short helical coil of wire 9 as shown in side elevation and end elevation respectively in Figs. 3 and 4:.

Another form of spacer is the star shaped wire device 10 shown in plan in Fig. 5. In this device the wire loops have their extreme ends 10 bent upwardly at right angles to the plane of the radial arms. The arms or loops of wire were originally extended in one plane as indicated by the dotted extensions 10" before the ends were bent upward. This wire star has six arms to space the junctures of six triangular tiles shown in Fig. 1, tho it is evident that it may have fewer arms to space fewer tiles if desired.

Either type of spacer described is dropped into position when the tiles are laid and permits the molten pitch to run through. In laying a floor I preferably first lay the tiles loosely in place with spacers between, then I consecutively lift each one (with a rubber vacuum cup) and pour a pool of the melted pitch on the supporting floor and at once lower the tile upon it pressing down firmly to squash out any surplus pitch and bring the tile legs down hard on the base floor. When all are thus firmly cemented to the base I then run more of the melted pitch, or a lighter grade thereof into the seams to about half fill the same, and after cooling fill up the seams with the magnesite cement as described, preferably smoothing and compact-- ing the seams after the cement is partially set.

F or exposed porch fioors I preferably coat the whole wooden supporting floor first with a coat of tar or asphalt, or pour a sulficiently large pool under each tile in laying them so that a film will run under the legs of the tiles also at 7. Tho if thepitch is very hot and fiuid it will permeate under the legs with the ordinary procedure described.

If no pitch is deliberately poured under each tile as laid, it will nevertheless run under the tiles quite a distance in pouring the seam, but lack of entire filling of the spaces under the tiles will not cause the level of the pitch to fall in the seams if the pitch is of the proper body and/or filled as described.

In its most complete form the invention will be seen to comprise a tile floor wherein each tile is supported in a selfaligning manner on three short legs resting on a base floor to carry the load, and that the tiles are, additionally supported'to carry the traffic by a firm tho slightly yielding material beneath the body of the tiles between the supporting legs, and which additional support can always yield slightly so as to preserve the selfaligning features of the tiles on their three legs and keep them solidly on the base at all times. Also that said additional support cements the tile to the base, and stabilizes the tiles against shocks from above, therefore functioning in a manner entirely different from the earlier disclosure wherein the tiles were loose from the base floor and there was nothing but an empty space below eachtile and the edges were abutted and caulked in a manner to keep the spaces empty.

Also, it should be noted that the flexible cement used under the tiles fills the low-er part of the seams, and that contrary to the earlier disclosure the upper part of the seams are leftunfilled with the flexible cement, but are filled with another cement having different properties from the flexible cement below it, principally heat insulating properties so as to protect the flexible cement, and seal it away from the air entirely under the tiles or at the bottom of the joints so that it will not melt and ooze out, stick to peoples shoes, or rugs, or dissolve when oil or volatile solvents are used to clean the floor, or slowly flow along the seam in the manner of the pitch cements in sidewalk joints.

Another point to" be noted is the fact that the spaces below the til-es and the seam spaces are in free communication so that the flexible cement when poured can readily flow through, yet the tiles are rigidly spaced by spacers which permit this flow yet also function to prevent any gradual creep or displacement of the tiles through constant trafiic in one direction, or if they are laid on a slanted floor like an outside porch floor, and further that the tiles are additionally rigidly spaced by the rigid or substantially rigid top filler in the seams.

The use of the word pitch or flexible cement in my claims is intended to embrace any type of caulking pitches, tars, asphalts, or compounds which may be put in place in a liquid, semi-liquid or plastic condition and which when set are. slightly flexible, and whether any of the same are filled with other material or not.

The word tile as used herein means rigid or substantially rigid flat tiles, blocks, or slabs, as used on floors or pavements and whether made of pottery ware, cement, glass, or any other hard material adapted to stand on short legs or supports, and in some phases of the invention when supported on a base with or without legs or other supports, all as fall within the scope of my appended claims. Also, the word floor as used in the claims means any surface or walk which may be walked upon.

I claim:

1. A tile floor comprising rigid tile units supported on a base, flexible cementing material securing the tiles to said base, and a filling of relatively non-flexible cement in the seams of the tiles.

2. tile floor comprising rigid tile units supported on a base, flexible cementing material securing the tiles to said base and extending part way up the seams between the tiles, and the upper portion of the seams filled with a relatively non-flexible cement.

3. A tile floor comprising rigid tile units supported on a base, flexible pitch cement material securing the tiles to said base, and a filling of relatively non-flexible cement in the seams between the tiles above the pitch.

4. A tile floor comprising rigid tile units each supported on three legs on a base, flexible cementing material securing the tiles to said base, and a relatively non-flexible cement filling the seams between the tiles. 7

5. A tile floor comprising rigid tile units 8. A tile floor comprising flat tiles each supported on short legs on a base floor, pitch in the spaces between the legs under the tiles and in the lower part of the Seams between the tiles, and a relatively rigid cement in the seams above the pitch.

9. A tile floor comprising flat tiles each supported on short legs on a base floor, pitch in the spaces between the legs under the tiles and in the lower part of the seams between the tiles, and a magnesite cement filling the upper part of the Seams above the pitch.

10. A tile floor comprising rigid tile units supported on a base floor, a flexible cement securing the tiles to the base, and a magnesite cement filling the seams of the tiles.

11. The method of laying a tile floor which comprises placing a quantity of liquid flexible cementing material under each tile, pressing the tile in place, and of filling the seams between the tiles part way only with flexible cementing material.

12. The method of laying a tile floor which comprlsesplacing a quantity of molten flexible cementing material under each tile, pressing the tile in place, and filling the seams between the tiles part way only with molten flexible cementing material.

13. The method specified in-claim 12 plus after solidifying of the molten material, filling the remainder of the seams with relatively non-meltable cementing material.

14. A seam joint in a tile floor comprising flexible cement at the lower part of the seam, and the upper part of the seam filled with a substantially rigid cement.

15. A seam joint in a tile floor comprising pitch at the lower part of the seam, and the upper part of the seam filled with a magnesite cement.

JULIEN A. BRIED. 

